lotsoskiing;c-59952 wroteBlack Mt, NH?
Yes, but technically not the question. Whitneys' J-Bar or Shovel Handle Tow.
rickbolger;c-59962 wrotewhat's up? was there a couple times this season and did not see Mr. Fichera anywhere, which struck me as rather unusual
No idea. I wouldn't know if he was standing next to me..
My first time ever riding it or even seeing it running. Upper 30s-41F, bluebird day, no wind and great presidential views. The field under the J-bar was surprisingly well covered. Skiers right was ungroomed. They had said on the website that it would open at 10 am Sunday which was not the reason we went there. More of an Indy thing. When we saw there was no activity over there at 10 we were kind of bummed. Then we heard talk that some help hadn't shown up that morning. I'm glad we headed right over when we saw it running at 11:15. It ended up having the longest line by far. Like 15 people... Lack of help may be why the ski school director was working the top terminal when he should have been getting ready for a parade. On my 2nd trip up I heard a familiar voice talking to the top attendant who was also a very well dressed leprechaun, but much larger than I’ve seen in books. That voice was Jeremy Davis. I think I overheard how much work had been done to get it running and they wanted it to stay a part of Black's future. Later the leprechaun told me some history on the 10th Mtn & about Franz Koessler.
One problem without telescoping masts it can lift little kids off the ground at spots. A problem for some, fun for others. One father's advice: Don't sit down, until it is time to sit down. Skiers right had settled enough since the storm to be almost like corn snow and you could take great turns on it.
I wish I got a video of this. On my fourth trip the kid in front of me got caught by his ski overalls and was hanging from the J-bar arm at the unload point. My wife yelled to alert the leprechaun, who I think was watching his pot of gold. The leprechaun leapt into action, running over, hitting the E-Stop & extricating the little tyke. The kid was struggling to unhook himself & shaking the rope. At the same time we started to slowly roll back a few feet so I decided to step off as my lift attachment point just cleared the tower pulley. Just then the rope derailed. Thank goodness for the cable catcher. I alerted the leprechaun and he came down & we attempted to lift the cable up. No dice. I apologized for breaking the lift after all their hard work to get it running. He said, hey don't worry. things happen. It was real fun while it lasted. They got it going in a couple hours. I'm sure it took that long due to available manpower with other events going on.
